How to pick an online casino
Online casinos are popping up left, right, and center since the pandemic. The difficulty isn’t in deciding whether you should try them or not, but it’s in deciding which one to use. Below is a list of criteria to run through during your decision-making process. Otherwise, head to Arabic Casino for a great example of what a proper online casino should offer you.
Licensing
First and foremost, when browsing the internet, your safety takes priority. The wild west of the internet can be opportunistic at the best of times, but online casinos can be even more unpredictable.
The only way to ensure your safety away from these grey market casinos is to ensure that they are licensed. A fully regulated and licensed casino will not be fraudulent, and you will likely have plenty of customer protections by the regulator.
The licensing number is usually in the footer of the company’s website. There’s no need to ‘gamble’ with a grey market casino because there are so many legitimate ones to choose from.
Customer Service
Customer service is a massive deal, but it may not seem like it at first. Customer service is rarely a priority because we only need it when something goes wrong. But, by that point, it’s too late, and the poor customer service could cost us a lot of time and frustration.
Knoing the importance of customer service is one thing, but how do we know for sure if a company is good in this area? Well, besides customer reviews and feedback, you can send a tester to them before signing up. Initiating a live chat or email conversation asking a few questions about the welcome bonus or something similar could help give you an indication of response times, politeness, and whether it’s difficult to speak to a human over a bot.
Bonuses
So, once we have narrowed down a list of options that are licensed and with good customer service, we can now loosen up a bit and search for some of the fun, lucrative aspects of casinos.
One of the only times that you will get a free lunch at a casino or any kind of advantage over the house is with bonuses. Bonuses include things like “Deposit $30 and receive $30 in free bets” or even receiving cash bonuses (though, make sure to check the wagering requirements here in the T&C).
One mistake is to pick a casino based on the welcome bonuses alone. Whilst these are often the most lucrative, a casino that hands out ongoing bonuses is likely going to be better in the long run compared to a great one-time offer. If you sign up to a casino and they’re not giving you anything down the line, feel free to switch and exploit another welcome bonus at a different casino.
Game choice
The reason why you play casino games is likely because you enjoy playing those games. This is actually one of the main areas in which online casinos are outperforming traditional casinos – they simply have a much larger selection of games. More choice is always better for the casino (once you get around the headache of deciding on one), because it means that there’s more likelihood that something appeals to you.
If you like slots, sure, any casino will have slots. However, if you like slots but you also like Greek mythology, then you likely can find a casino that has integrated both. Online casino games are becoming increasingly gamified, meaning they have more skill, challenges, and even competition between other players in the form of leaderboards and levels. Plus, many have fully fleshed out stories and campaigns.
Payment options
Having a large selection of payment options is also ideal, because this way you get to find the most convenient method for you. For example, some people just absolutely love to use PayPal, with it being a simple email and password that has all their cards attached. Not many casinos have PayPal as an option, but some do. Likewise, Crypto bros can certainly find casinos that accept Bitcoin and a whole host of altcoins – though be careful about unlicensed crypto casinos as they’re flourishing.
Having the perfect payment method can speed up your withdrawals, and the casino should ideally be upfront about the estimated withdrawal times of each and every payment method. If not, drop the customer service a message and ask.
Devices and UI
Finally, you will be playing the online casino games on your phone, laptop, tablet, or another device. It’s best to decide beforehand which devices you will be using and test out the casino on each of them before you get too comfortable in signing up. This is because some casinos have great online poker software, but dire mobile apps – or vice versa.
Finally, if you own a VR headset then there are even options here. You will likely have to find a dedicated VR casino as opposed to hoping your standard one offers VR integration. VR casinos are incredible because they offer the atmosphere and feeling of a traditional casino, but with all the benefits of remote online casinos still retained.
